Recent public events have brought to light the safety of students in classrooms. Schools are presently investigating techniques for deterring intruder's from entering a school and from being able to enter a classroom. Time is the key factor in the development of strategies for dealing with an intruder. Responders can often take 10 or more minutes to respond in an emergency situation. During this time, schools go into “lock down.” This initial 8-10 minutes, when police have not yet arrived, can be critical. Thus, a quick and effective technique for barricading classroom doors is needed in order to allow time for police response and to protect the occupants of the classroom.
There are many types of doors in school buildings. Depending on the age and era of the school, some doors swing inwardly and some doors swing outwardly. In addition, some doors are double doors that open in the middle of two doors, with each door swinging inwardly or outwardly. Many school buildings, due to fire safety codes, do not permit door locks on the interior of a classroom. The doors may only lock with the use of a key on the exterior of the classroom knob. In an intruder situation, it is often undesirable to enter a hallway in order to lock a door knob. In addition, a nervous teacher fumbling with keys may have a hard time locking the lock.
Some classrooms have windows in a wall or in the door. In the case where the doorknob has a locking mechanism, it can often be thwarted by the intruder breaking the window and reaching in and unlocking the knob.
One device is known that utilizes a rod that extends under a door and can be rotated upwardly once under the door in order to block the movement of the door. This device, described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,251,412, is attached to a door jamb with a screw or similar securing mechanism. Thus, it includes a bracket that accepts a screw or pin and a hole is positioned in the door jamb adjacent the door. One problem with this design is that a door jamb can oftentimes be easily kicked in. Thus, an intruder with significant strength may be able to kick in the door by using force. In essence, the device of the '412 patent is similar to a lock, since locks will typically be secured in a door jamb.